Russia claimed on Tuesday that it is carrying out massive bombing raids on all front lines in Ukraine. and accused the Ukrainian forces of torturing and punishing civilians in the recovered territory as part of their counter-offensive. The Russian attacks come after its forces were forced to withdraw from several areas of northeastern Ukraine, especially in the Kharkov region, due to the lightning counterattack launched by the Ukrainian Army. Faced with this outpost of kyiv, the Kremlin rules out for the moment the general or partial mobilization of its population.
Attacks in different directions
“The air and artillery forces are carrying out massive attacks against units of the Ukrainian armed forces in all operational directions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily report on the conflict. High-precision bombardments were also launched on Ukrainian positions around Sloviansk and Konstantinovka in the Donetsk region in the east of the country.
At the same time, Moscow accused the kyiv Army of torturing civilians living in the recently retaken territories.. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said the Russian presidency had reports from the Kharkov region that “numerous punitive actions are taking place, people are being tortured and ill-treated.”
Russia also denounced on Tuesday what it considers a “growing bias and politicization” of the UN for criticism of Moscow from its highest body for the defense of human rights, while remaining silent on violations committed by Western countries.
Ukrainian forces launched their counteroffensive in early September, apparently taking the Russian military by surprise. According to the Ukrainian authorities, their soldiers have recovered important swaths of territory and cities such as Izium, Kupiansk and Balakliya, in the northeast; and about 500 square kilometers in the Kherson region in the south.
The Ukrainian Army in the Kharkov region has recovered since September 6 more than 300 settlements and areas that are home to about 150 thousand peopleDeputy Foreign Minister Ganna Maliar said. On Monday, President Volodimir Zelenski had assured that in September his troops had recovered six thousand square kilometers under Russian control.
The head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, considered that the Ukrainian forces are making significant progress. Still, Blinken added that “it’s too early to say exactly where this is going. The Russians maintain very significant forces in Ukraine, as well as equipment, weapons and ammunition.”
Russia rules out a mobilization
The Russian withdrawal from the Kharkov region put on the table the pressing lack of men in the ranks of the Russian Army fighting in Ukraine. The Crimean deputy of the Kremlin party, United Russia, Mijail Sheremet, assured on Tuesday that without the general mobilization the Russian troops will not achieve the objectives that were set when the “special military operation” began last February.
That view is shared by many Russian military experts and bloggers, as Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov criticized the mistakes made by generals on the battlefield and was willing to send 10,000 men to the front. The pro-Russians noted that the Ukrainian forces in Kharkov were eight times larger than the Russian ones, who chose to withdraw, leaving behind fuel and military equipment in the hands of the enemy.
According to the local press, the president Vladimir Putin considers that most Russians are not willing to send their sons to fight in Ukraine. “At the moment we are not talking about this,” said Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, during his daily telephone briefing.
70 percent of Russians support the military campaign to a greater or lesser degree, which is opposed by 18 percent, according to the latest official poll. While Ukraine interpreted the Russian withdrawal from Kharkov as a great victory that allowed it to recover thousands of square kilometers of territory, the Russian Defense Ministry argued that its decision sought to strengthen its positions in Donbass.
Reproach the Germans for weapons
The Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Oleksii Reznikovhe told the French newspaper The world what the war entered a new phase thanks to western weapons. The Ukrainian government insisted that the West supply it with more sophisticated weapons. But Germany came under fire again for failing to deliver the Leopard tanks it claimed to kyiv.
“No rational argument why those weapons can’t be supplied, just abstract fears and excuses”said the foreign minister Dmytro Kulebaafter German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz dodged a question on the matter on Monday, saying Germany was not going to act on its own when it came to arms supplies.
The German leader urged Putin, in a phone call on Tuesday, to “reach a diplomatic solution as quickly as possible, based on a ceasefire, the full withdrawal of Russian forces and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty from Ukraine”.
Meanwhile, far from the battlefield, Ukraine’s allies continue with the energy crisis resulting from the closure of the Russian gas tap in the European Union (EU). The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, called an extraordinary meeting for September 30 in order to seek emergency measures aimed at curbing the escalation of energy prices.